Mechanical lighter



June 20, 1950 1'. RUETZ MECHANICAL LIGHTER Filed April 27, 1948 m a M mmW f w a Patented June 20, 1950 RICE MECHANICAL LIGHTER'il'ieorllor-Ruetz Zurich, 1 Switzerland Application April 27, 1948',"Serial No.- 23,516

In Switzerland May'bi, 1947 1 GClaims.

.The'invention relates toa mechanical lighter, particularly a" pocketmechanical. lighter, which is-essentially distinguished in that, inaddition to the direct pipe (main pipe) toxthe burning spot, a furtherpipe (secondary pipe) workstogether with a liquid container, thesecondary piperhaving awidened=-cross-section over a part of: itslength.v The secondar pipe may alsopreferably leadinto aispaceat-theend'of the:main pipe--which can be connected. as desired to andshut off from the outside air--Whereby. further, of the twopipesconnecteddmparalleh the main pipe has a greater resistance 'to the flowof fuel than the secondary pipe, and also the two pipes have at leastone: part impeding the flow of liquid.

Further features of the invention. can be seen from the claims, thespecification and the drawingQwhere some forms: of execution of the mechanicallighter arelillustrated diagrammatically by way of example inthe-form of a pocket lighter.

Fig. 1 shows one form of lighter-in longitudinal section,

Fig. 2 showsanother form oilighterinlon gitudinal section,- and Fig. 3is a vertical section of another form of lighter.

According to the 'form of the invention illustrated. in Fig. 1, a shorttube 3- is inserted in the cover 2 ofthe liquid container 1, thistube-projecting at one 'end1-'into. the interior id. of the liquid.container and projecting outat' the other and above the cover 2. Thistube-*3. formsa direct pipe from the interior space iatotheburningspot'3a. and'is in the following-termed a main pipe. Inthe main pipe 3an absorbent body 4 is arranged, iorinstancein the form of a wick.

In thecover 2 a fixedring 5 is arranged concentric to the tube 3; thespace 5a surrounding this ring. can be connectedas. desired-withthe-outer airsor closed offirom it,. preferably by the sealing means: 6in the closing cover. I of the lighter. Into theclosable-space 5a at theend of the. main pipe3,:a secondary pipe 9 is provided from theliquidspace In openingat 8. This secondary pipe in the example illustratedconsists of tube- Q-WhiCh opens into ahollow. space I l formed by acontainer I0. From the hoiiow space H a further part or tube N2 of thesecondarypipe opens at the top at I3intothe liquid space la. The part 12of the secondary pipe then extends in the form of a thin tube untilnearly the bottom lim of the container Ii). This container in isarranged in the interior. of the :2 liquid. container I and forms awidening of the cross se'ction'of the secondary pipes B, 9, 1D, I! and.I 2. Thereby this secondary piping runs from .theinterior la ofthecontain'er along'the tube l2 in a'direction contrary to the directionfrom the interior space Ia to the burning point 3a. The flow through the'secondary'pipesrc-onsequently takes place from the point 13 downwardsand through the hollow space H and the tube s' into the closablespace'Ea of the --main pipe 3. Of theutwo pipesi connected in 'parallel(main and'secondary pipes) the main pipe'has a greater resistancetorthefiow of fuel than the secondary pipe, because of the provision ofthe absorption member 4. However, in' addition to the main" pipe; alsothe secondary pipehas at least'one part impeding the flow, which-in".the present example consistsof: the smalltube" l2, which acts-:toimpedethe flow, but allows gases to pass therethrough freely.

In Fig. 3 a further'variant' of the secondary pipingie shown Where thepipe 12a, passing downwards from the point l3, opensat thebottom intothe hollowspace Ha of the container IBa, whilstthe outlet 9a abovethe-hollow space lsla" of the container I- ia leads into 13119613220850.

' Intheafore-mentioned example the-'mechani cal lighter is one in whichthe liquid container Ia, has-no absorbing material.

In the. example according to Fig. 2, a liquid container I is.-provided,which is filled with a capillary substance M, as for instance-weddingstaple fibre, or the-like. The mainv pipe consistsof asmal-l tube 15which is fittedinthe cover Zandnoes not project into the space la. Thewick 4 is-accordingly only guided atthetop at the outlet-from thecontainer L The secondarypipeopens outv of thespace 5a,. in theform. ofa small tube lfi intoasuitable space H, which is formed by a branch.tube 18 provided with holes IS-inthe walls thereof. These holesin thewalls, aswell asthetoprand bottom openingsof thebranchtube IiB-intothespace la form the mouth of the secondarypipeopening-into the liquid.container la.

According to a further important featuraof the invention, which is.common to the examples of execution already desoribed, theend 4a-of thewick. 4 in the pipe leadingfrom the interior of the liquid container to.the burning.- spot, is sur rounded by the actual burner- 3b and.arranged depressed therein. The actual-burner thy-in the followingtermed burner tube, surroundsapart ofthemain=pi-pe- 3 in spaced:relation, projects from. the liquid container I and is: displaceably 3arranged. Between the burner tube 3?: and the cover 2 of the liquidcontainer a spring 23 is provided, which tends to force the burner tube31) upwards into the so-called igniting position, where it is held bymeans of a stop not shown in the drawing. The end 4a, of the absorbentbody or wick 4 makes contact with the inner wall of the burner tube andis depressed within the tube in the ignition position thereof. Theburner tube 3b is, as can be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, movable up anddown between the fixed ring 5 and the main pipe 3 within the space 5a.

The burner tube 3b is, according to the example of executionillustrated, controlled by the closing cover I of closed. When the coveropens, the burner tube 31) moves under the influence of the spring 23into the ignition position, soaked with fuel. It is also to be mentionedthat the upper edge of the mouth of the fixed ring 5 projects a littlebeyond the edge of the mouth of the main pipe, in order to ensureconnection of the space 50'. with themain pipe even when the lightercover I is closed.

Idea, purpose and working of the fore-described construction of thevarious examples of execution are as follows:

Speaking generally, the purpose of the arrangement according to theinvention is that, in consequence of pressure fluctuations liquid in theliquid container flows into the hollow space H or I! of the secondarypipe and can escape (over pressure) and from there be again led back(depression) whilst the gases can freely escape when the closing cover Iis opened. In this way the introduction of fuel in the main pipe remainsuninfluenced by pressure fluctuations, and is consequently alwaysuniform, thus ensuring a constantly uniform flame. The followingseparate points are here also referred to: If a pocket mechanicallighter filled with petrol and hermetically closed by the closing coveris subjected for a given time to warmth, for instance to the warmthradiating from the human body when the lighter is carried in thewaistcoat pocket, when the lighter is opened a jet of petrol will beexpelled even through very small outlet openings in consequence of'theoverpressure. reason for this is that, when the cover is opened, thepetrol is carried over with the escaping gas when pressure is released.This carrying-over is favoured by the fuel rising or foaming up in themoment when the pressure is released. usual lighters the pipe leadingthe fuel consists mostly of a small tube with an enclosed wick. In sucha case the resistance to flow in this pipe need be only great enough toprevent the supply to the burning spot being adversely affected.Consequently the wick should be of a quality having only a loosestructure in order that the density of the wick and the external andinternal friction of the liquid may not become too great. But on theother hand, and here the present invention applies, for pressureequalisation a continually 'free opening must be present in order thatthe movementof liquid in the wick pipe may neither be accelerated norretarded by pressure fluctuations. Since pressure equalisation, however,must take place in a fraction of a second, for solving the problem set,the hitherto mechanical means for pressure equalisation fall out ofconsideration. The means of the pipes connected in parallel, chosen inthe example according to Figs. land 3 The -With the '4 with liquidcontainers free from absorptive material, with their above-mentionedfeatures, in particular the widenings of cross-section in the form of ahollow space H not only ensure a constantly uniform supply of fuelthrough the main pipe 3 to the ignition spot 3a, but also preventparticularly the annoying issuing or squirtingout of the liquid fuelwhen the mechanical lighter is opened.

Now regarding the form of execution according to Fig. 2 with the liquidcontainer filled with an absorptive body, the following is to beremarked here: Also with this execution pressure 15 fluctuations withrespect to atmospheric pressure present in the fuel container la issupersaturated and is subjected to an external overpressure, fuel causeunpleasant phenomena. If the wadding will be forced out through the wickwith a stron squirting action in accordance with the internal pressurewhen the cover I is opened. In the opposite case of depression, the airflowing in to equalise the pressure will disturb the distribution of theliquid in the absorbent substance; in particular in the inflow regionthe liquid will be drawn away from the burning position, so thatif thewadding in any case already contains little fuela long time may passuntil order is again restored and the burning position has once moresufiicient fuel supplied to it. In order that these unpleasant phenomenamay not -occurparticularly the squirting action in consequence of thehermetic closing of the cover-a secondary or relieving pipe is herearranged parallel to the wick pipe 3, as already described above. Herealso the secondary pipe leads to a widening in the form of the hollowspace H, which in the above-described manner stands in connection withthe capillary substance surrounding it. This friction prevents freeliquid being drawn over when pressure is released, when the capillarysubstance (wadding or the like) is supersaturated; In the contrary caseof depression, i. e. when air flows in, a rapid pressure equalisation isthen ensured in the hollow space H. In both cases the guiding of thewick remains here uninfiuenced.

As regards the purpose and the method of working of the burner tube 31)movable up and down in the space 511, mention of an important featureshould be made that the wick end ie, when the cover is opened, forinstance when lighting, is not in the region of the flame, since it isarranged sunk with respect to the upper edge of the burner tube 312where the flame is formed. The burner tube 31) pressed down by the cover7, takes up fuel internally and externally, particularly if it consistsof a substance which can store liquid. When the cover is opened and theburner tube 31) moves a corresponding distance upwards, the wick end 40.moves over this inner wall. The burner tube 31) is consequently Wellsupplied with fuel in the ignition position, so that when operating thefriction wheel ignition and immediate formation of flame takes place.Because of the surrounding and sinking of the wick end 4a, this takes nopart in the forming of the flame; the wick therefore does not becomesmoked and is also not consumed. Consequently all the drawbacksconnected with smoking and burning are avoided.

I claim:

l. A mechanical lighter comprising a container to receive a fluid, amain tube projectlngfrom the container and adapted to receive a wick, aring member secured to the outer surface of the container andsurrounding the maintube in spaced relation, an auxiliary container inthe first-mentioned container, and a tube in communication with theauxiliary container and the space between the ring member and the maintube.

2. A mechanical lighter comprising a container to receive a fluid, amain tube projecting from the container and adapted to receive a Wick, aring member secured to the outer surface of the container andsurrounding the main tube in spaced relation, an auxiliary container inthe first-mentioned container, a tube in communication with theauxiliary container and the space between the ring member and the maintube, and a burner tube surrounding the main tube in spaced relation andmounted in the space between the main tube and the ring member.

3. A mechanical lighter comprising a container to receive a fluid, amain tube projecting from the container and adapted to receive a wick, aring member secured to the outer surface of the container andsurrounding the main tube in spaced relation, an auxiliary container inthe first-mentioned container, a tube in communication with theauxiliary container and the space between the ring member and the maintube, a burner tube surrounding the main tube in spaced relation andmounted in the space between the main tube and the ring member, and aspring between one end of the burner tube and the first-mentionedcontainer to urge the burner tube upwardly when a cover of the lighteris opened.

4. A mechanical lighter according to claim 1, in which the main tubeextends into the firstmentioned container.

5. A mechanical lighter according to claim 1, in which the main tubeextends into the firstmentioned container and entirely through theauxiliary container.

6. A mechanical lighter according to claim 1, in which a pipe sectionextends into the auxiliary container and the first-mentioned container.

THEODOR RUETZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

